


Taciturn

by catsukii



Category: Free!
Genre: Drabble, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:20:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24164272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catsukii/pseuds/catsukii
Summary: He's reserved and quiet, not one to show his emotions but when he's with you, he opens up and you absolutely love him for it.
Relationships: Nanase Haruka/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

**\- sɪᴛᴛɪɴɢ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴀᴛʜᴛᴜʙ ᴛᴏɢᴇᴛʜᴇʀ**

* * *

He didn't say anything and you didn't question him when he just grabbed your hand and brought you to the bathroom. He turned on the tap when the plug was already in the drain and then proceeded to take off his school shirt, removing his pants too. Underneath you saw his black swim jammers with the violet pattern on the sides of his thighs.

After changing he didn't hesitate to grab the ends of your shirt. You still stayed silent and he didn't wonder why you hadn't question him yet when you lifted your arms up so he could take the piece of clothing off of you. He stopped when he saw you in a bra with your school skirt on, his cheeks almost turned a light shade of pink and you smiled.

"Do I look nice?"

Your voice was soft and he looked up into your eyes with his bright blue ones, "Let's get in the tub, Haru." The sides of his lips turned up and he turned around to step into the tub carefully to prevent himself from slipping. You admired his back muscles and pulled the zip down in the side of your skirt so the material could fall down your legs, "Shouldn't I change into my bathers?"

He fell silent for a few seconds, you looked down at him to see his eyes closing as he finally relaxed, "It's only a bathtub, it'll be a waste of time."

The muscles on his torso were distorted from the ripples in the water and you turned pink at the sight of his shaped abs that were so clear to see, "You're.. right." He slowly opened an eye to see you stepping in, you could through the surface of the calm water and slowly squatted to place your backside on the tub calmly, he acknowledged that you had sat opposite of him and placed his legs on the sides of your waist while your legs remained in and you bent your knees to conserve space, "Is it warm for you?"

Normally he didn't mind what temperature it was, he preferred the cold since it was how he always swam but the sight of goosebumps along your bare arms didn't fit well with him, he found it a little bit unsightly and you found that each time he brought you to the tub, he casually make it a little warmer each time.

He saw the gentle smile upon your face and relaxed as you nodded, your soft voice echoing in the small bathroom as you watched how he moved his hands slowly under the water, the effects of it causing to top of the water to ripple and move before become calm once again, "It's nice."

When you laid against the back of the tub, it was cold before you situated yourself properly. You tried to move carefully so you wouldn't unintentionally splash some water but then you leaned forward to make sure you didn't slip. When your arm was holding yourself up in the water, Haru took it upon himself to grab your arm and pull you forward lightly, you yelped at the sudden movement and steadied yourself, ready to scold him before you saw the look in his wide eyes.

They were so timid and pure, content and you almost melted inside, "Sit here with me."

You didn't hesitate to turn around where your back then made contact with the muscles on his torso. You could feel him, his abdominal muscles and his pectorals that graced the skin of your slim back and he only responded by putting his arms around your waist under the water as you stared at the same wall that he did, the one that was in front of you, "Comfortable?"

At the single word, how his soft voice almost tickled the skin of your neck, you simply rested the back of your head on his chest and felt his chin touching your forehead as you looked up now, smiling whilst nuzzling him at the same time, "Very."


	2. Chapter 2

**\- ᴄᴏᴏᴋs ᴍᴀᴄᴋᴇʀᴀʟ ғᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜ**

* * *

You'd waken up that day on the wrong side of the bed. Your nose was groggy and your face felt dry and rough, you felt icky when trying to wipe away the tiredness from your eyes. Your pyjamas were uncomfortable and the bed sheets had wrinkled and fell around you in an odd way. You weren't in a good mood - to put it short.

Nonetheless, you put on your uniform for Iwatobi and tried to deal with you hair in the best way that you could. You ignored the slight aching in your arms and only responded by defiantly putting your hair into a high bun. It was efficient and it didn't require any hair brushing, you were salty because of the fact that you couldn't look nice for Haru but ignored it with a sigh and felt your home early in the morning to walk to your boyfriends house. 

You bid farewell to your parents and walked in the sunlight to end up at Haru's house, it was comforting and you almost knocked before realising it was already open, you let yourself in and did so quietly as to pinpoint the location of the boy, you knew he there was a high chance that he was in the bathtub but the sound of something sizzling lead you straight to the kitchen, "Haru, the front door was open, it could be dangerous." 

He looked back at you momentarily before flipping the mackerel before him. It was ridiculous how he would wear nothing but an apron over his swimming jammers and you leaned on the kitchen counter, looking at anything but his perfectly-shaped behind, "It's fine."

"Haru... please put on your uniform - or just something different than.. that." You gestured to his swimmers and he saw your cheeks going red, "Are you feeling alright, [Name]?"

"Ye-yeah.. Just- uh, never mind."

Looking away, he only turned back around to poke at the sizzling fish with his spatula. You sat at the counter, leaning forward on the bench as a yawn erupted from your mouth and you accidentally made a short squeak but you didn't pay attention to what sounds you made when you wiped the small tears from your eyes.

"Did you get any sleep? You look really tired and.."

You saw him, he was looking at you when you noticed the fire under the cooking pan had been put out, "messy, to be honest. Not in a bad way, though."

His eyes looked as if they were analysing you but you turned away to lean your chin on your palm as you breath through your nose, "I know, I don't know, Haru. I guess it's just one of those days."

He saw the way your shoulders had been low yet tense at the same time and grabbed another plate from the cupboard to put his mackerel on there, there, he'd split his breakfast in half and put one scoop of rice on each plate as well.

Closing your eyes, you felt your body ease when a small sound of ceramic lightly hitting the bench made you flinch. You looked up to see Haru looking down at you, next to you when he slid a plate before you,

"I hope I can make your day better, [Name]."

Placing a sweet, good morning kiss upon your forehead, he felt you relax against him and you felt his lips twitch up at the feeling of your sigh fanning over his neck. He liked it, the silence and the ability to make you like this, he found it fascinating and reassuring. He loved that he had this affect on you.

"You do. Everyday." 


	3. Chapter 3

**\- ᴏғᴛᴇɴ ᴅʀᴀᴡs ʏᴏᴜ**

* * *

_'Pool closed for Winter'_

"Oh." Haru stared at the poster just as he was about to lead you through the door of the rooftop. You peered around him to see what had made such a sad-sounding sound come from his mouth and you mouth formed an 'O' as you read over it too. 

It seemed silly that you didn't even realise it was winter, that it was growing colder and that obviously meant the pool would be closed. It looked like it flew right over Haru's head as well and with a small tug of his hand, he turned to look at you - his face long as you knew he was displeased.

"Sorry Haru, looks like I forgot."

He sighed, following you begrudgingly back down the stairs, "Don't apologise, we both didn't realise." He merely walked next to you, no destination in mind when you muttered under your breath, "I was looking forward to just sitting by the pool though, I don't feel like leaving yet - oddly enough."

He stared at you, stopping when you had stopped as well because of the hand that was gripping yours, softly and gently but with a grip so the two of you wouldn't separate.

His hand was warm, smooth and he'd often rub his finger over the top of your palm nonchalantly, it was sweet - it made butterflies float in your stomach because of how simple and yet meaningful the action was. How endearing he was to you.

"Come on," he led you once more, this time going down an unfamiliar hall until the both of you found yourselves in front of the art club. He slid the door open with caution, unaware if there was anyone present - and to your luck, no one was in.

He closed it behind you as you stood by, wondering what was happening when you spotted the art utensils in a tray on a trolley and the canvas too, painted one and fresh ones littered the room on desks and laying carefully on the floor, you'd been watching the inanimate objects in the room that you didn't even realise Haru was calling you when he said you name once again, louder, 

"[Name], sit here."

He breathed out slowly, you could see how relaxed and poised he was and by the way the setting sun touched at his athletic figure, he looked utterly gorgeous, "Haru, lemme take a picture. Look away, like it's natural."

"What?"

He raised a brow when you ripped your phone from your pocket and opened the camera app to point it at him, he sighed distastefully and muttered as you focused the phone camera, "Hurry up.."

_'click'_

"Beautiful.." you stared at the image, admiring your boyfriend as he called you again, "Sit here, I want to draw you.." His cheeks turned a light pink, almost unnoticeable but the tingles in your chest and the butterflies in your gut made you tremble with deep satisfaction when you leapt to him, "go on, then."

It had been nearly ten minutes of silence, Haru would look at you and then back down to the paper he was using with his lead pencil in his hand, he drew and drew without seeming to have any trouble. The silence was unnerving, you didn't know if you were allowed to talk or not but you couldn't stand it any longer.

"Am I pretty there, Haru?"

You were referring to the image he was drawing but he didn't look at you nor pause in his art piece, you smiled when he looked up but he seemed focused on your hair, how to draw it because of the way it fell,

"Haruka?"

"Don't call me that."

Grinning innocently, "Sorry, you weren't answering me."

"It's fine."

You almost gaped at his ability to completely divert a question, "well? Am I pretty?"

"What's that saying?..." Haru paused, without making eye contact and he then continued shading something on the paper, " _'beauty is in the eye of the beholder,'_ right?"

Humming, you nodded and you were about to question him, "Some people won't think you're that pretty, some people will. Does it really matter?"

"Haru!" He flinched and looked into your wide eyes after he was previously focusing on your lips now, "I was asking as your girlfriend, you know?" Pouting, his eyes narrowed on your lips now, "Stop pouting."

"Make me."

He sighed and lifted the pencil with annoyance, "I will..." He was quiet, "after you be quiet and stay still for five more minutes."

You did as he said and earned yourself a kiss along with a heartfelt compliment from the blushing swimmer.


	4. Chapter 4

**\- ʟᴏᴠᴇs ᴛᴏ sᴡɪᴍ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜ**

* * *

"I don't really want to..."

"Why not?" 

Haru turned to you quickly, almost panicked when you denied his offer to swim on the rooftop. Your eyes found his and you merely smiled crookedly to ease him after being softly rejected, "I mean, I'm not really feelin' it today, maybe next week I will."

He was almost appalled, "I don't understand... You _don't_ want to swim?"

He spoke to himself in despair, all the while revealing more of his toned body when he had been taking off his school uniform at the edge of the pool. The sun was shining on the water, the light rippled through the surface and you admired the sight as well, next to Makoto, Rei and Gou, "Oh come on, Haru, you can swim with Rei and Makoto today."

He huffed to himself and dove in without another word.

The water splashed towards you, only just missing when you backed away to see the others all watching Haru's freestyle, he was fast and smooth in the water, you couldn't help smiling when watching the way he naturally flowed through the water like it was his natural habitat - it probably way, really.

"I'm sure he's fine - I bet he just loves swimming with you, [Name]-chan."

"I know.. he always asks me to go in the bathtub with him at his house." You looked at Gou as she smiled reassuringly, "This is all.. normal, then?" Rei asked from beside Makoto, he wasn't in his bathing suit yet as he had chose to wait for Nagisa to arrive from cleaning duties and the tallest brunette answered with a fond smile, "yeah, this is routine, basically."

Makoto gave you a knowing look, just as Haru was about to touch the side of the pool closest to you, the point where he'd jumped from only minutes ago.

You crouched down, staring at the way he kicked his legs to his finger tips when they made contact with the water, slicing through like an invitation had been given and Haru had no qualms about anything else when he felt the stress of any _and_ everything melt away.

He emerged, breathing deeply and he shook his head to rid the water from his face as he opened his eyes, finding yours while his chest rose and sunk, you smiled and he suddenly didn't seem so upset or even annoyed,

"Is the water nice?"

"Yes." It was an obvious answer, a silly question from you,

"Is the water wet?"

He looked away from Nagisa who had arrived to immediately strip before Rei and then to you after Makoto had also began stretching his upper body, "What? Obviously."

He answered as if there was something wrong with you, his eyes on you with a raised brow and you smiling, biting your lips when you replied quietly, "Actually, it's not."

He stayed silent, waiting for you to say that you were joking or something like that, he was confused and opt to stay quiet,

"The water's not wet silly, you are though."

He moved closer to the edge to lift himself, twisting his body as he sat on the pool edge while you remained by his side. He moved his legs nonchalantly in the water while he decided to question your topic of conversation, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, to say something is wet is to say that it was dry before, because, you know.. the action of becoming wet means that something _wasn't_ wet beforehand." He looked away thoughtfully before breathing out harshly, "Is this why you don't want to swim with me?"

"Wha-?" You paused, "No, no, I swear I do but I'm on my period. I'm sorry, I know how much you love swimming with me." He found himself nodding a little, you couldn't help smiling and then he spoke, "Right..." He probably felt a bit awkward, "So... I'm wet, but.. the water isn't?"

"Yeah!" 

He grabbed your hand with his wet one, "It hurts, right?" 

It took you a second to realise he was talking about your current _lady_ situation and he began rubbing his thumb over you hand when you nodded, "Well, at the moment it's alright." He gave a thoughtful nod and moved his lips again, his calming voice speaking something you didn't really expect, "tell me more about the water thing, then."

You felt the corner of your lips tilting up, "is it because it's about water or-"

"yes... and because I like listening to you."

" _Well if you insist~_ it's a bit like fire right, like it burns but the fire _itself_ isn't _burned_ , right?"

He continued listening as he slowly dried and took some time from the beloved water to keep you company because why would he enjoy the second best thing in his life when the best thing in his life couldn't.


End file.
